About the Artist

Thanks for stopping by my website. It is, as so many are, in a constant state of transition; it grows when I have time to add to it, and falls stagnant when the workload increases in other areas of my life. I have a day job for a visual-simulation software company--a company I love, though sometimes the daily grind can drain me of my creative energies.

I live in McKinney, Texas--a suburb of Dallas, but an area that still has a small-town feel. It reminds me a bit of Natchitoches, Louisiana, the town I grew up in. As soon as I moved here, it felt like home. (As an aside, Natchitoches is the home of Northwestern State University, from which I received my BS in Advertising Design. It is also where my father taught mathematics, computer science, and worked with the archaeology department...three subjects in which I find inspiration.)

McKinney has a growing and vibrant artist community, of which I am proud to be a part. The gallery scene in McKinney is excellent, and art education for children, youth, and adults is given strong support. I worked with and for the Art Institute of McKinney (AIM), one of the pioneering establishments of art education in the McKinney area, and to which I owe my present and future life as an artist. I found AIM at a time when I was deeply frustrated as an artist, and through classes like The Artist's Way, I found new inspiration and confidence.

Most of my work is done in my studio at home--a place filled with books, art, music, and the love of a kind and beautiful woman: my wife.

The books, art, and music are sources for material and inspiration. I find it fascinating the way symbols, shapes, words, and even tonal relationships are used by authors, artists, and musicians to create an emotional response. There is a connection that can occur there, however simple or complex, that enthralls me. It's a level of connectivity that no palm pilot, cell phone, or laptop can ever provide.

As for my wife, she is occasionally my model and often my muse. She writes young adult fantasy fiction. I am in awe of her ability to craft a world and characters with a rich history, and I praise her penchant not to drag her readers through that history in infinite detail. Our individual creative lives are somewhat symbiotic; we learn from, challenge, and give whatever we can to support one another.

It is a great life, and I'm happy to be living it.

David Pine

About Fantastic Art

Hieronymus Bosch is normally attributed as being the first "fantastic" artist. Others include Pieter Brueghel, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Matthias Grünewald, Hans Baldung Grien, Francisco de Goya, Gustave Moreau, Henry Fuseli, Odilon Redon, Max Klinger, Arnold Böcklin, William Blake, Gustave Doré, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and Salvador Dali.

Fantastic art depicts the imagery of the imagination, the grotesque, dreams, visions, and other worlds. It is an integral part of mannerism, romanticism, surrealism, and symbolism, and draws on the themes of mythology, occultism, mysticism, and religion.